Tying machine

ABSTRACT

A tying machine for twist-tying articles with tying ribbons subject to a &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;memory&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;. The machine includes a deflecting means to compensate for the curvature of the ribbon due to its memory to assure the ribbon is engaged by a wrapping needle to wrap the ribbon around the article to be tied.

United States Patent [191 11] 3,760,850 Kulp Sept. 25, 1973 TYING MACHINE 3,369,573 2/1968 Baker et a1. 140/93.6 [75] Inventor: Jack H Kulp San Juan Capistrano, 3,391,7l5 7/1968 Thompson 140/93.6

Calif.

[73] Assignee: Royal Industries Inc., Pasadena, Primary ExaminerLWen Larson Calif. Attorney-Robert L. Parker et al.

[22] Filed: Aug. 14, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 280,529 ABSTRACT [52] 11.5. Cl. 140/93 A, 140/1 15 A tying machine for twist-tying articles with tying ribl] Int. Cl B211 /04 bong subject to a mem ry, The machine includes a Field of Search 93 deflecting means to compensate for the curvature of l/l 28, 31 the ribbon due to its memory to assure the ribbon is engaged by a wrapping needle to wrap the ribbon around l References Cited the article to be tied.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 1.305.422 6/1919 Warwick /93 5 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATEN TED SEPZ 5 I975 km MQQN TYING MACHINE DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a machine for twisting tying ribbon around articles such as bags and the like.

Tying machines for tying ribbon-like materials around bags and the like are well known in the art and one such semiautomatic machine is disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,369,573 granted on Feb. 20, 1968. These machines have been found to be generally satisfactory for tying the ends of bags or articles by twistingthe ends of the ribbons together to secure the bags, etc. These tying machines generally employ a wire reinforced plastic or paper ribbon as the tying material. One such tying strip is disclosed in US. Pat. No. 2,767,1 13 wherein the material is constructed of a wire reinforced all-plastic ribbon. A similar paper tying strip is disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,068,135. These tying ribbons generally are employed in tying machines of the prior art by storing them on a spool for automatically feeding them into the machine for tying around the neck of a bag. In the tying machine described in U. S. Pat. No. 3,369,573 the tying ribbon is fed to a tying head wherein the tie is positioned in a U-shaped loop around the neck ofa bag and secured by a twisting element that twists the ends of the tying ribbon together and thereby secures it around the neck of the bag. The tying ribbon is positioned around the bag neck by means of a needle engaging the tying ribbon and operative for bending it in a U-shaped configuration around the article to be tied so that the tying head may be effective for twisting and tying the ribbon around the neck. In the event that a machine needle does not engage the tying ribbon as it is advanced through the tying head, the tying ribbon is not tied to the article thereby causing the machine to be jammed. It has been found that as a result of the tying material being stored on a spool that the tying ribbon exhibits a memory" due to its being coiled around the spool and has a tendency to keep its coiled shape after being unwound from the spool and advanced through the machine. As a result of this memory characteristic, it has been found that the tying material can be readily missed by the needle so that it is not carried around the bag and is not properly operated on by the machine and remains untied. The needle may miss a tying ribbon as a result of the ribbon being curled upwardly or downwardly with respect to the position of the needle so as to avoid the path of the needle as it moves to position the tie strips around the article to be tied. This will cause the machine to jam as a result of the unused ribbon being present in the machine.

The present invention provides an improved tying machine which is directed to assuring that the tying ribbon is positioned into the path of the needle of the tying machine to assure placement of the tying material around the bag neck so as to be properly tied and twisted and avoid the jamming of the machine as in prior art machines. For this purpose, the tying machine is constructed to provide a means for deflecting the tying material, as it is fed to be tied, in the direction of the needle to assure placement of the tying material around the article to be tied. The deflecting arrangement provides a simple means of assuring the correct operation of the tying machine and may be readily retrofitted into the present tying machines particularly the type disclosed in U. S. Pat. No. 3,369,573.

From a structural standpoint, the present invention comprehends apparatus for tying-articles with tying materialcapable of being tied by twisting and further characterized as having a memory,. The apparatus includes means for storing a-continuous length of tying material and means for feeding a preselected length of tying material from said storage means. The machine includes means for loosely wrapping the tying material about an article to be tied in a U-shaped configuration. Twist-tying means is provided for receiving the arms of the U-shaped tying material and twisting them together. The machine further includes means for deflecting the tying material as it is fed-to be twisted in a direction to assure placement of the tying material in the path of the wrapping needle means to assure the tying material is picked up by the wrapping needle and wrapped around an article to be tied. The machine includes actuating means movably mounted adjacent said tying means to intercept the article to be tied and movable in response to the positioning of the article adjacent said tying means for actuating the apparatus.

These and other features of the present invention I may be more fully appreciated when considered in the light of the following specification and drawings, in which: V

FIG. 1 is diagrammatical representation of the prior art type tying machine illustrated in U. S. Pat. No. 3,369,573;

FIG. 2 is a detached, side elevational view of the twist tying apparatus of the machine of FIG. 1 and embodying the present invention; and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the twist-tying head as illustrated in FIG. 2. Now referring to the drawings, a detailed explanation of the structure of the machine embodying the present invention will be described. It should be noted at the outset that the present invention is an improvement over the tying machine of the type describd and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,369,573. The details of the internal construction of the tying machine may be best appreciated by reference to the disclosure of U. S. Pat. No. 3,369,573 which is incorporated herein by reference for the purposes of the present invention. Te general organization of this prior art machine as illustrated in FIG. 1 need only be considered to the extent necessary for a'complete understanding of the present invention. To this end the tying material 10 handled by the tying machine 11 is stored on a supply reel 12 and is continuously fed into the machine 11 for tying an article manually positioned within the machine. It should be understood that the tying materials are of the type disclosed in U. S. Pat. Nos. 2,767,113 and 3,068,135 and are stored on a supply reel in continuous lengths so as to be fed into the machine upon demand. The relevant portion of the machine 11 that must be considered for purposes of the present invention is the twist-tying head 13 which includes a wrapping needle 14 and a machine actuating arm 15 arranged on opposite sides of a U-shaped throat 16. The article to be tied is inserted into the throat 16 of the machine so as to engage the machine actuating arm 15 and initiate the operations of the machine. When the machine 11 is actuated, the drive means illustrated as a block 17 in FIG. 1 is energized in response to the placement of the article to be tied into engagement with the actuating arm 15. The actuation of the drive means 17 is operable to rotate a pair of tape drive rollers l8 and 19 for feeding a preselected length of tying material from the reel 12 to be tied around the article positioned within the throat 16. The feeding of the tying material 10 into the throat 16 in response to the actuation of the drive means 17 is in concert with the rotation of the wrapping needle 14 towards the throat 16 in a manner to engage the tying ribbon l and bend it in a U-shaped configuration around the article to be tied. The wrapping of the tie material around the article to be tied allows the twist-tying head 13 to engage the two ends of the tying material and twist them upon themselves to secure the article and sever the tying material from the continuous length to allow the tied article to be removed from the throat 16 of the machine. This is the conventional operation of the tying machine as disclosed in U. S. Pat. No. 3,369,573 and a more complete description may be had by reference to said patent.

The tying head 13 for the machine 11 as illustrated in FIG. 1 includes a twisting head 20, a shear blade 21 and a shear plate 22. The twisting head 20 and the shear blade 21 are arranged coaxially on the same rotatable shaft 24 that is controlled by the drive means 17 to be rotatable in unison upon actuation of the drive means. The twisting head 20 and the shear blade 21 are spaced apart by a spring 23 as best illustrated in FIG. 2. These elements ofthe tying head 13 are conventional with the machine disclosed in the aboveidentified patent and form no part of the present invention. The twisting head 20, as illustrated in FIG. 6 of the above-identified patent, includes a pair of sockets for receiving the ends of the tying ribbon as it is fed by the tying head 13 for twisting the end of the ties together. The twisting head of the present invention is of the same general configuration except that one of the receiving hooks 20A for the twisting head 20 is of a closed configutation so as to receive and completely encircle the tying ribbon in the fashion of a needle eye as it is fed out of the tying head 13. This twisting head socket is identified as the socket 20A and the open ended socket for the twisting head 20 is identified by the reference numeral 208. The tying operation for the modified twisting head 20 is the same as in the prior art US. Pat. No. 3,359,573 except that it is assured that the tape will be engaged by the wrapping needle 14 as it emerges from the head into the socket 20A. Accordingly, with the actuation of the tying machine 11 and the continuous feeding of the tape 10 through the socket 20A the tape 10 will be positioned in a U-shaped configuration so that the advancing end of the tape will be picked up by the socket 203 so as to allow the twisting head 20 to tie it upon itself.

in the present invention a deflector 30 is mounted outboard of the twistlng head 20 and coaxially therewith on the shaft 24. The deflector 30 has a deflecting portion 30D that is angularly oriented with respect to the deflector 30 proper so as to assure interception of the tying ribbon 10 as it is advanced through the twister socket 20A. For this purpose, the deflector portion 30D may have an angle on the order of 30 with respect to the body of the deflector that is mounted on the shaft 24. With respect to its relationship to the twisting head 20 it will be noted that the deflecting portion 30D is arranged on the shaft 24 immediately opposite the socket 20A so as to assure that the tape 10 as it is advanced through the socket 20A will be deflected into the path of the wrapping needle 14 to assure that the needle 14 will intercept the tying ribbon 10 and properly bend it around the article to be tied in a U-shaped configuration. In view of the inclined relationship of the deflector 30 with respect to the twisting head 20 the tape as it is advanced will be immediately deflected towards the needle 14 irrespective of the particular memory configuration that the tape 10 may have assumed as a result of being stored on a supply reel 12 to assure that the tying material is picked up by the needle and wrapped around the article to be tied. The housing for the machine as disclosed in U. S. Pat. No. 3,369,573 also assures that the material cannot be missed by the wrapping needle 14.

It should now be evident that the present invention has provided. an improved tying machine of the type of U. S. Pat. No. 3,369,573 in which the memory of the tying material has been overcome so as to assure that the tying ribbon is picked up by the wrapping needle and properly positioned around the article to be tied and thereby minimize the risk of jamming the tying machine. This allows the machine to be operated over longer periods of time without any jamming problems as in the prior art type machines and more efficiently use the tying material due to the reduction of losses.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for tying articles with tie material capable of being tied by twisting and further characterized as having a memory, said apparatus comprising means for storing a continuous length of tying material, means for feeding a preselected length of tying material from said storing means, means for loosely wrapping the tying material around an article to be tied in a U- shaped configuration, tying means for receiving the opposed arms of the U-shaped tying material and twisting them together, said tying means including means for deflecting the tying material as it is fed to be tied in a direction to assure placement of the tying material to the path of the wrapping means to assure the tying material is picked up by the wrapping means and wrapped around an article to be tied, drive means coupled to operate said feeding means and said tying means for a preselected tying interval, and

actuating means movable mounted adjacent said tying means to intercept an article to be tied and movable in response to the positioning of the article adjacent said tying means for actuating said drive means.

2. Apparatus for tying articles as defined in claim 1 wherein said tying means comprises rotatable apertured twisting means adapted to receive the ends of the tying material at the apertures and twisting them together and said deflecting means is mounted coaxially with the twisting means to be rotatable therewith, the deflecting means being mounted for deflecting the tying material as it passes through one of the apertures of the twisting means.

3. Apparatus for tying articles as defined in claim 2 wherein the tying means includes cutting means for receiving the tying material and cutting it from its continuous length.

4. Apparatus for tying articles as defined in claim 1 wherein the tying means comprises a rotatable cutting and twisting head having a rotatable shaft mounting a cutting element on one side of a tie twisting element and tie deflecting means mounted on the shaft on the opposite, side of the twisting element to cause the preselected length of tying material to be severed from its continuous length and to be substantially simultaneously twisted upon itself upon being deflected into the path of the wrapping means to assure completion of the tying and cutting operations.

5. Apparatus for tying articles as defined in claim 4 wherein the tying element is defined with a pair of twisting sockets for receiving the tying material.

Patent No.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Dated September 25, 1973 Inventor(s) Jack H. Kul p' It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 2,

Column 2,

Column 2,

Column 3,

Column 4,

line

line

line line line

(Claim 1) reads "memory," and should read --"memory."--

reads "describd" and should read --described-- reads "Te" and should'read .-.-The....

reads "twistlng" and should read --twisting-- reads "movable" and should read ----m0vably---- Signed and sealed this 9th day of April 1974.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD ILFLETCHERJR. Attesting Officer- C MARSHALL DANN Commissioner of Patents 

1. Apparatus for tying articles with tie material capable of being tied by twisting and further characterized as having a ''''memory'''', said apparatus comprising means for storing a continuous length of tying material, means for feeding a preselected length of tying material from said storing means, means for loosely wrapping the tying material around an article to be tied in a U-shaped configuration, tying means for receiving the opposed arms of the U-shaped tying material and twisting them together, said tying means including means for deflecting the tying material as it is fed to be tied in a direction to assure placement of the tying material to the path of the wrapping means to assure the tying material is picked up by the wrapping means and wrapped around an article to be tied, drive means coupled to operate said feeding means and said tying means for a preselected tying interval, and actuating means movable mounted adjacent said tying means to intercept an article to be tied and movable in response to the positioning of the article adjacent said tying means for actuating said drive means.
 2. Apparatus for tying articles as defined in claim 1 wherein said tying means comprises rotatable apertured twisting means adapted to receive the ends of the tying material at the apertures and twisting them together and said deflecting means is mounted coaxially with the twisting means to be rotatable therewith, the deflecting means being mounted for deflecting the tying material as it passes through one of the apertures of the twisting means.
 3. Apparatus for tying articles as defined in claim 2 wherein the tying means includes cutting means for receiving the tying material and cutting it from its continuous length.
 4. Apparatus for tying articles as defined in claim 1 wherein the tying means comprises a rotatable cutting and twisting head having a rotatable shaft mounting a cutting element on one side of a tie twisting element and tie deflecting means mounted on the shaft on the opposite side of the twisting element to cause the preselected length of tying material to be severed from its continuous length and to be substantially simultaneously twisted upon itself upon being deflected into the path of the wrapping means to assure completion of the tying and cutting operations.
 5. Apparatus for tying articles as defined in claim 4 wherein the tying element is defined with a pair of twisting sockets for receiving the tying material. 